Today we chat with the lovely Sasha Peyton Smith, the New York Times best-selling author of fantasy novels for young adults, including The Witch Haven. Her latest offering The Rose Bargain kickstarts a lavish romantasy duology, described as Bridgerton meets The Cruel Prince meets The Selection.
Hi Sasha, thank you for joining us today! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and your book The Rose Bargain?
Hi The Nerd Daily, thank you so much for having me! I’m Sasha! After ten years in D.C. I recently moved back to my hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah, into a 114-year-old house (the previous owners told me it was haunted, but I haven’t seen anything yet.) When I’m not writing, I’m usually watching reality TV with my husband or trying way too hard at my adult ballet class. I’m also trying to get back into painting this year.
The Rose Bargain is my new YA romantasy novel about an alternate history Victorian England where the queen is an immortal faerie who tricked her way onto the throne 400 years earlier. Our main character is Ivy Benton, the second daughter of a bankrupt marquess, whose sister has recently disgraced the family, ruining Ivy’s already slim marriage prospects. When the queen announces this is the season her son, the prince, will take a wife, Ivy is the first to sign up. But the prince’s brother approaches her with a deal; he’ll help make her his brother’s dream girl, ensuring her victory, if she’ll help him take down the queen.
It is such a fascinating and original story, I’d love to know what sparked the idea for The Rose Bargain?
It was December of 2022, and I was back in my childhood home visiting my parents for the holidays. I was facing the biggest failure of my career, wondering, genuinely, if I’d ever write again.
And then the idea “what if the Queen of England was a faerie” struck me like lightning. Surrounded by all of my favorite novels from my teen years, I wondered what would happen if I tried to write something that gave me the feeling all of those novels did. I resolved to write the MOST fun, MOST self-indulgent book I could possibly think of. I threw everything my fifteen-year-old self would have loved into this book and I really hope I’ve made her proud.
I loved the depiction of the fae here as trickster beings, tapping into the darker mythologies surrounding them. What inspired this presentation and the choice to combine it with Regency England?
I’m from the States, but my mother’s family is English, so I grew up with old-school faerie myths, where fae were portrayed as uncanny and malicious. Combining these fae characters who are driven by impulse and cruelty with the buttoned-up, sparkling world of 1800s London was such a fun push and pull. Both the the faeries and high-society England have shiny veneers that hide something rotten underneath.
I also, personally, also find the idea of immortality completely horrifying, and that really informed the queen’s character. I thought about what eternal life must to do someone’s sense of empathy, or generosity or compassion. I imagine so much of what makes someone altruistic would be whittled away. Above all things, the immortal queen is bored, and that was such a fun place to build a character from.
Another key aspect of the book is the dangerous and often grisly bargains made with the Queen. What would your bargain be?
I’m so much less brave than my characters, I would try to avoid the queen at all costs! If forced to make a bargain, I’d make it for something small like always having my bag come out first at airport luggage claim or being able to find a parking spot at the mall.
Who would be your dream casting for an adaptation of The Rose Bargain?
I feel so out of the loop with actors who would be young enough to play these characters!
Louis Partridge, Lily James, and Josh Whitehouse did make frequent appearances on my Pinterest board as Emmett, Ivy, and Bram, respectively but I don’t think they’re the right ages anymore.
What surprised you while writing this book?
The Rose Bargain has already surpassed all of my wildest dreams, but the biggest gift it has given me is helping me rediscover my love of writing. I’d forgotten how fun it could be!
What songs would form the soundtrack to The Rose Bargain for you?
I write in complete silence, but I love using playlists as tools for character building. It feels like cheating, but Ivy’s song has always been Ivy by Taylor Swift. Also on the playlist would be I Love You, I’m Sorry by Gracie Abrams, True Blue by boygenius, Guilty as Sin by Taylor Swift, and Francesca by Hozier.
What books are you excited for this year?
So many! A few I’ve preordered are A Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid, I, Medusa, Ayana Gray’s adult debut, Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell, Say a Little Prayer by Jenna Voris, and I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew.
If possible, can you share a little about what you are currently working on or any upcoming projects you have?
I’m currently writing the Rose Bargain sequel! One of the things I love most about sequels is getting to expand the world of the first book. Most of book two of the Rose Bargain takes place outside of London, and I’ve had so much fun exploring the world beyond Kensington Palace.
Finally, if you could only use five words to describe The Rose Bargain, what would they be?
Victorian, faeries, romance, balls, competition. Or perhaps more elegantly: Crap, his brother is hot.
